Thursday, January 31, 2008

Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when it snows on you? (Apologies to COPS watchers everywhere!)

Seriously, this snow is never going to quit, it is just going to snow and snow and Leo will never have to go to school again, which is fine because he has played so much World of Warcraft this week that I'm sure he'll be able to make a living from it someday!

And while Leo's snow day has turned into a snow week, I am not so lucky. I get to drive through the slooshy streets every morning and evening because somebody has to work around here, how can the two teenage boys eat me out of house and home if I have no house and home?

The weather is the talk of the town, and I have learned some new snow lingo:

"PLOWED IN" -- This means that you didn't move your parked car off the street before the snow plow came and pushed a huge wall of hard ice and snow on your car and buried it so deep you can't get it out. Ex.--"There is a car on my street that is PLOWED IN so deep that it's not coming out until March!"

"STATE OF EMERGENCY" -- This is what the Governor of Washington declares so that your town can get more money for snow removal. Which really isn't removal at all, they just push it in front of your driveway so that you have to shovel it if you want to leave your house.

STATE OF EMERGENCY = SNOW PLOWS = MORE CARS PLOWED IN AND MORE DRIVEWAY SHOVELLING

I am learning so much!

Here are some more icicle pictures. I will get out this weekend with the camera so you can compare this week to last week. See ya!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

2 to 4 more inches today. I am lucky because my car is in my garage. When I leave my house I have to charge out of my driveway like a mad bull in reverse, hope I can get over the remainder of the berm that was too hard to shovel, then skid to a stop on the icy road before I hit my neighbors car across the street. It's wild! I am a person that loves new experiences but this is one could have done without! I have to leave for work at 7:15 instead of 7:35 so that I can go 30 mph on the interstate at get to work by 8am. I can hear George Maupin in the background saying snow snow and more snow all week. SHUT UP, GEORGE MAUPIN!!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

It has been snowing for 25 hours straight. KHQ has preempted regular programming for full time storm coverage. I am watching the news on the internet, since our DirecTV dish is full of snow and the tv is not working. I guess this is the worst snow storm in 15 years, and before it is over we will have another 9-15" of snow on top of the 13" we just got. And for the first time, I referred to snow as crap. As in, "I have to shovel all that crap!" Oh well, just another adventure!

I took some pictures this morning of my house and street, here they are:

This is my balcony. I already shovelled it because the snow is very wet and heavy, and I didn't want my balcony to collapse.

These are the stairs leading to my house. We shovelled a path last night but as you can see there is more shovelling to be done. These next three pictures were taken from the same spot in the street. My house, then the street looking south, then north.

All I can say is wow. Think of me tomorrow morning as I make my way to work. Meanwhile I will be comforting myself with memories of happier times.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Before I moved up to Spokane from CA, I was worried about winter. Being from Monterey, I had never experienced any real weather to speak of, and my fear was of the unknown. So when I had my first winter up here, which was last winter, it was a piece of cake! I'm so glad that last winter was as mild as it was, because it eased me into this year--a real winter! December was the snowiest one since like the sixties. We have had a LOT of snow. And it just accumulates because the temperature never gets above freezing. Currently it is five big degrees outside. And the forecast for this weekend calls for 3 to 6 inches of snow, and the upside to that is that it's going to be "warmer", as they call it -- 26 degrees! I will try to post pictures this weekend, as it is hard to take pictures during the week because it is dark when I get home from work at 5:15 pm.

Now, I am not complaining (too much), I am just stating the facts. I still love it up here and I am still enamored with weather of all kinds. However, I know that another season is coming and I am starting to wish that Mother Nature would just get to it!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Last Thursday I spent three and a half hours in the chair with tools in my tooth. That is 210 minutes. I will spare you the gory details, needless to say it sucked. Four days later my mouth is still sore, but it seems to be getting better every day. I don't have much to say because I haven't done much lately. I did make a loaf of beer bread over the weekend, it was good. I went to Egger's Meats and bought bacon. I took down most of the rest of Christmas, now all that's left is the tree and the 4 balls left on it. I have been taking lots of naps, I guess that is how my body copes with pain, I just try to sleep it off. Anyway, even if I did feel more energetic, it's not like I'm going to go outside, it's 5 degrees out there! But I do hope this tooth crap goes away soon, it would be nice to be able to chew again. Meanwhile, I think I'll take a little nap.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

OK. About 10 days ago my tooth started hurting when I ate. By last thursday it was hurting all the time. Yesterday i had a root canal. Now it hurts even more than it did. I have been taking Vicodin in the evenings for almost a week. Thursday I get a crown. On my tooth, even though I should get one on my head for dealing with this crap for a week and a half. I am pretty loopy right now and it is late and I am tired. I hope this is over soon. However, american Idol is funnier after a couple of vicodin.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

One of the things I like about Spokane is that we have college sports teams and even though I don't really follow sports I still support our local Zags, Cougs, etc.

Well, not tonight.

Tonight, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are in Los Angeles playing the Loyola-Marymount Lions, a game which Gonzaga is most likely going to win. And I am watching the game as I type this, but tonight I am cheering for the Lions. One Lion in particular. His name is Orlando Johnson and we are related. Sort of. He is the cousin of my niece's husband. I just saw him at Christmas, he is a good kid, very polite and humble. He is a very talented basketball player, and I wish him a long and prosperous career.

So, citizens of Spokane, please do not hang me in the town square because I am not rooting for the home team tonight. Thank You.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

1) ICICLES ARE BITCHIN!When we got back from California it had been snowing and there were icicles on almost every house. Even on my house! Some houses had long rows of perfectly uniform icicles but not my house, we had a giant mutant icicle:

They are so cool!!

2) THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT THAT I GOT

When I was at my sister's in CA we were talking about I don't remember what when all of a sudden she says "Hey, I have Mom's mother's ring, do you want it?" I said "YEAH I WANT IT!" My mom wore that ring every day, it is the only ring I remember her wearing when I was growing up. I had forgotten all about it, I mean, my mom's been gone 11 years now. So I got it, the band was broken at the bottom and there were some prongs missing around the stones, but I was so happy to have it that I wore it the rest of the trip and the day after I got back I took it to Pounder's Jewelry to have it repaired. I got it back yesterday and it is so beautiful!

It was really hard to get a good picture of it but if you click to make the pics bigger the ring looks better. It is a simple ring with three stones, ruby for my sister's birthday in July, peridot for my brother's August birthday and sapphire for me in September.

I am so happy to have this memento of my mom, I will wear it every day just like she did.

3) 1/3 OF A TREE IS BETTER THAN NO TREE AT ALL

This morning when I woke up we had gotten a lot of snow overnight. It was sticking to the tree branches and all piled up on even the smallest twigs. Now that 2/3 of my tree is gone, I can see more of the trees on the next block, and they are really pretty right now.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

So I'm watching tv tonight, stuff that I recorded earlier. It's no secret that I record and watch Soul Train, so I was watching one from the Disco Era and the singer was Cheryl Lynn singing "Got To Be Real". Don Cornelius was talking to her and I was reminded that she got her start as a contestant on The Gong Show, which immediately sent me to YouTube to look for Gong Show clips. Let me tell you about my teenage devotion to The Gong Show. I loved that show so much that I would cut my junior US History class and go to Doug's house with him and Tami, smoke a joint and watch The Gong Show. EVERY DAY. Needless to say I failed History and had to take it again as a senior with all the juniors. But it was worth it! Oh how I loved that Gene Gene the Dancing Machine and the Unknown Comic, and especially the host Chuck Barris because he was crazy and funny and he pushed the envelope and the censors until they cancelled the show. My kind of guy!So anyway, I went to YouTube and found bunches of clips. I watched a lot of them, but this one is my favorite, it just sums up the show for me. Thank You Gong Show, you not only totally enhanced my teenage stoner life, but this evening as well!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

I always have this great big list of New Year's resolutions that is totally overwhelming to me so this year I have decided to just be smarter and make better choices. In all areas of my life. See, not overhwelming at all!